It would be hard to over estimate the beauty of this year's wildflower bloom in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
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ERNIE COWAN Outdoors WITH FLOWERS COME HUNGRY CATERPILLARS There’s a second show of spectacular spring color in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and it’s not from wildflowers. This bit of bright color is an important piece in Nature’s grand puzzle. Abundant rainfall that produces lots of vegetation also means the arrival of the showy caterpillar of the sphinx moth. Local gardeners may cringe at the thought of this large, green, black and yellow caterpillar, also known to some as tomato hornworms, but in the wilds, they provide an important food source for migrating hawks. The caterpillars also morph into moths that help pollinate native plants. With the arrival of a good crop of spring growth in the desert, the 3-to-4inch caterpillar soon follows. The good news is they are colorful and interesting to see and provide a good source of protein for migrating Swainson’s hawks. The bad news is they can devour a field of wildflowers in just a few days. When conditions are right, tiny moth...
ERNIE COWAN Union Tribune Outdoors ASSORTMENT OF CRITTERS APPEARING AT ‘MT. WHOVILLE’ A love of nature is a relatively common thing, but for those who spend more time in the wild, or live in rural areas, you begin to develop personal relationships with the creatures around you. I don’t live in the wilderness, but my home is on top of a little mountain that is 1-mile long and 200-feet wide. Mt. Whoville, as we call it, is only a few minutes from town, but far enough out to be exempt from the impacts of urban life. I am surrounded by native chaparral, cottonwoods, boulders and oak trees, and blessed with a wide variety of winged, crawling, creeping, slithering and hopping visitors. Some we have named because of distinctive marks that allows us to recognize them. One of our most recent friends is “Blaze,” who arrived about a month ago as a tiny ball of fluff. The softball- sized cottontail rabbit was one of several early spring arrivals, but easily identified by a white mark o...